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While it is often shown that many divorced couples live apart after divorce this is not always the case. In some recently severed marriage, neither party has the means to support themselves on their own. As such, they end up living their new life with their ex-spouse and children still in the home together so they have a stable environment. While this affects a lot of social aspects in the home, how does it affect child support payments?

In many cases, cohabitation does not have much of an effect on child support. However, it can make day-to-day financial aspects a little fuzzy for some couples. It could be argued that since you bought breakfast, then that is for the care of the child and should be deducted from what you owe, but typically courts will shoot this down. You will likely still be on the hook for the financial amounts.

There are some cases in which one parent experiences "substantial change" to their financial means that can cause child support to be modified, but often this is due to loss of employment or injury rather than cohabitation.

In other cases, one parent may waive child support from the other parent in an effort to combine income and care for the child in their best interest. This can be a mistake if it isn't clear or legally stated that payment needs to be restarted once the ex-spouse moves out.

Overall, cohabitation between divorced parents can be a tricky business because it can throw a wrench in so many divisions that happen during a divorce. If you are cohabitating and want to lay down the ground rules, contact us today.

If you and your spouse just can’t stand each other anymore, filing for an immediate divorce may seem like the best thing to do. If, however, you are pregnant, things get a little more complicated. Here are some tips to help you out.

Learn About State Laws

Every state has different laws regarding getting divorced while pregnant. In many states, you won’t be able to finalize the divorce until the baby is born. In other states, you will be able to file but your spouse will be listed as the baby’s father. In yet other states, your ex won’t be listed as the father. Get a lawyer to help you out.

Who Will Pay for Health Care?

If your divorce is finalized before the baby’s birth, who will pay for your health care while you are pregnant? Usually, you ex-spouse does not provide health care for you, but the court may order them to help you out with health care costs if you are pregnant. After the baby is born, your ex may be required to give you monetary support under child support laws.

Child Bonding and Visitation

If you are a father, it’s important that you establish your visitation rights before the birth. The most important time to bond with your child is soon after their birth, but the mother will usually be awarded full custody rights as long as the baby is breastfeeding, so make sure you get some time together to bond. After the baby is weaned, you may be able to get overnight visits.

In any case, it's important that you don't try to file by yourself. Contact us today for legal help!

Your husband decides to walk out of the marriage, and he has the only income that kept your home running smoothly? Depending on the state you live in, and how long you were in the marriage, you may be eligible for spousal support although there are no children from the marriage. Read More

Divorce is never easy, no matter who is involved, but it’s especially difficult for children to go through. Parents think they’re protecting their children, but even with the best intentions, parents sometimes hurt the children in the process. Attorneys in the family law field see many cases of a family divided through the divorce process and want to provide you with the following tips when navigating through this most difficult time. Read More

Unfortunately, divorce is all too common in modern society. The rate of divorce in the United State ranges from 25-50%, depending on the source of the information, but regardless of the exact number, divorce is always a traumatic and stressful event that can result in financial and emotional hardship. Read More

In California, the division of property during the divorce is based on the community property / separate property principle. If you are claiming that certain assets like inheritances are separate property and not marital property, then you have to provide proof that it is separate property.

If you have received an inheritance, that is typically considered your own separate property. However, that can also depend on how you have handled the inheritance after you received it. There is a burden of proof on you to prove that the inheritance is separate property, and is not subject to community property laws.

Many couples make the mistake of not bothering to keep their inheritance as separate property, and mingle it with their marital assets. That creates confusion, and could even mean that your inherited property could be considered as a marital asset, and could be subjected to the 50/50 division principle that is in effect in California.

For example, if you use your inheritance to buy a significant asset soon after you received the inheritance, you might still be able to prove that the asset is your separate property, even if the inheritance funds were deposited into a joint bank account. However, the longer you wait, the more difficult it will be to prove that the purchase was from your inheritance, and not from a marital asset.

If you have made the mistake of not bothering to keep your inherited property separate, and there is now confusion now about whether it is separate property or marital property, it doesn't mean that all is lost. Get legal help from an experienced Los Angeles divorce attorney immediately to protect your rights. You may be to walk out of the marriage with your inheritance considered 100% separate property, and not eligible for division.

A divorce can be a complicated situation, even when it involves younger persons, who have many income-earning years ahead of them. However, in the case of seniors who may not have the same income-earning opportunities younger people have after a divorce, the situation becomes even more complex. In fact, divorce can be a financial catastrophe for a senior unless he/she gets expert legal help.

There are several issues that can complicate a gray divorce, not least of which is the division of assets. You may want to consider retaining the house. As you get older, you may become eligible for certain real estate property tax exemptions, or even a reverse mortgage. That can provide you with a stream of income in the future.

Additionally, owning a house gives you a potential for rental income. These are issues that you need to consider, because the income-earning potential is dramatically lower at your age.

Also critical is the division of retirement assets. A separate order called the Qualified Domestic Relations Order is necessary to complete the division of retirement benefits.

Besides, there are specific health challenges that seniors can face with all the stress that is brought on by divorce. You may also be much more inclined to share challenges involving the divorce with your soon-to-be ex-spouse. This is a critical mistake, and usually happens because seniors may not realize that it is important to focus on their own interests in a divorce. It's important to be practical and focus on the fact that you have more years behind you than ahead of you, and it's important to plan very carefully for those years.

Women who are stuck in a bad marriage, but have avoided filing for divorce, may want to take note of the results of a study. The study finds that women, who are in poor-quality marriages and get divorced, report much higher levels of happiness after the divorce, in comparison with those women in similar marriages, who did not make the decision to divorce.

The study found that women who reported being stuck in a poor marriage, reported greater levels of satisfaction and overall happiness with their lives in the years following the divorce. In comparison, the satisfaction levels of women who continued to remain in comparable marriages, stayed low.

Interestingly enough, men were not affected by the same factors. For instance, men did not seem to suffer any kind of change in their satisfaction or happiness levels, regardless whether they were married or divorced. The researchers believe that this could possibly be due to the differences in the manner in which men and women define marriage, as well as the manner in which they view their role in the marriage. Women are much more likely to define by themselves by their marriage, compared to men.

However, the most interesting finding from the study was that when women were stuck in bad marriages, divorce actually opened the doors to more opportunities, greater satisfaction and higher levels of fulfillment. Women may feel anxious about taking that step towards divorce, and many women avoid divorce because they believe that it will only worsen their situation. As the study’s findings indicate, divorce seems to provide a very clear and definite relief to women in a bad marriage.

A divorce is even more traumatic when there are children involved. But many parents have misconceptions about dealing with kids during a divorce.

One of the major misconceptions parents have during a divorce is that they have failed as parents. Your children would not agree with that. Getting divorced does not reflect on your role as a parent, and has nothing to do, in fact, with your parenting skills. Rest assured your children are very likely to understand that.

Many parents also suffer from extreme guilt, believing that their children will turn out dysfunctional as a result of the divorce, and fearing that they will not have a normal family life. The fact is that children often deal with insecurities even when the parents are married to each other, and seem like normal and happy families.

There are some rules that parents need to keep in mind when they're going through a divorce. No matter how bad the situation with your ex-spouse is, don't bad mouth your ex-ex-and avoid complaining or forcing your children to take sides in your marriage.

Remember, your children will only absorb the kind of information that you put out there, and if the only thing that is coming out of your mouth is trash talk about the other parent, you can rest assured that this will impact them as they grow older.

Encourage children to have a good relationship with the other parent. This of course, doesn't work in those cases, when the other parent has a history of child abuse, or violence. However in most cases, children only benefit when both of the parents make an attempt to encourage the child to have healthy relationships with both of the parents.

You’ve probably heard of studies that showed an increased risk of divorce after a job loss in the family or the death of a child. Those studies aren't exactly without merit. There are certain stressful life events that can test any marriage to the extreme. Not surprisingly, several months after the stressful event, a couple may find themselves consulting with a divorce lawyer.

Serious illness is one of the most stressful factors in a marriage. When one of the spouses develops a serious life-threatening condition, it places an immense stress on the marriage, and can even lead to divorce. Studies have found that when women are seriously ill, the divorce rate is much higher, than when it is the husbands who are seriously sick.

Unemployment is also a major risk factor for divorce. The loss of a job is a risk factor in any marriage, but seems to be an even bigger threat when it is the man who loses the job. Unemployment is accompanied by frustration, low self-esteem, low self-worth and other factors that can place stress on the marriage.

Couples who live apart from each other, like military couples, also have a higher risk of divorce. Long-distance marriages may be more difficult to work. One study of military families conducted in 2013 found that the risk of divorce was directly proportional to the length of the deployment.

The birth of a child is a joyful occasion for many but for others, unfortunately, it leads to pressure that that actually end in a divorce. This however is much more likely in those marriages in which only one spouse was keen on a child when the other did not want a child. Many parents are unable to cope with the stress and lack of sleep associated with parenthood, and find their marriage in trouble.